Pueblo has become a 2 high school town with a 4 high school problem

By 2025, Pueblo City Schools is expected to lose another 1,000 students. It’s a school district that can seat 20,983 but only has 14,897 students to fill those seats.

It’s a district with schools that are too old, too big in a city that doesn’t have enough young families. It’s a city that blames the district for being the reason why jobs don’t come here.

It’s a Pueblo that has become a 2 high school town with a 4 high school problem.

The district has built only one new school in the last 25 years. Out of 30 open schools, 24 are older than 50 years. Back when the first Jurassic Park movie was released is when Pueblo built a new school.

Who could have imagined in 60 years that Pueblo City Schools would be facing both declining enrollment and schools that need so many physical improvements? It’s cheaper to replace some of them. Back then maybe it was expected that by 2019 there would be flying cars, people living on the moon, and six high schools around Pueblo.

What the school district is staring down is a community that for so long derived its self-worth from its high schools that it may not be able to do what’s best for the students.